This Will Change The Way You Feel: the impact and importance of positive feedback

There is only one way to end a workshop.

After you have spent a whole day, or often more, with a group, and everyone has gone through the rollercoaster of learning or planning or both, then you need to end in a way that acknowledges the people in the room and the impact they have had on each other.

We call this a Picture Positive.

Giving feedback is hard.

And for some reason, giving clear, specific, positive feedback is really hard.

Or maybe just not seen as important.

We certainly don’t do it often enough.

Some of us don’t do it at all.

“They just need to get on with it!” was the reaction I once had from a big corporate (not the ones pictured) when I extolled the benefits of giving clear, specific, positive feedback. Hopefully most people, and therefore organisations, know better now, and recognise that it’s critical.

Talking with Cathy Duval of About Learning, who is committed to helping organisations build positive cultures of appreciation, and she described the impact of expressing appreciation like this:

“In workplaces where people feel valued, something powerful happens — trust deepens, communication opens, and creativity flourishes. At the heart of this transformation is psychological safety — the belief that you can speak up, share ideas, and be yourself without fear of ridicule or punishment. One of the most effective (yet often overlooked) ways to cultivate this safety is through a culture of appreciation.”

She goes on to say:

“Creating a culture of appreciation doesn’t mean false praise or performative gestures. It means fostering habits of noticing, naming, and nurturing the good in others, consistently and authentically. A few simple but powerful practices are explored together, knowing the key is to make appreciation part of the cultural fabric — not a one-off initiative, but a daily practice.”

The end of a workshop is the ideal place to start practicing giving specific, positive feedback. When people are on the receiving end, they get a boost that compells them to want to do it again!

Using CCS Cards helps to make the feedback easier, clearer and more impactful.

The images prompt fresh thoughts and ideas and ways to describe qualities in someone — beyond, “I think you’re really good at what you do.”

To something more like:

“I chose this card because when I see the colour splats, it reminds me of how you manage to weave so many complex ideas together and communicate them so simply, clearly and creatively to us that we are compelled to listen and follow.”

I like to line the group up in two lines, facing each other. Have them look at the person opposite and find one card that describes a quality you appreciate about them. Share the card and your thoughts.

Then I ask one person from one line to go to the other end of the line, bumping everyone up one person and now facing a new partner. Repeat, sharing a new Picture Positive.

It’s nice to have them share with at least three people. But honestly, it’s so compelling that the group might want to keep going!

You can also download and print a template so everyone can then record their Picture Positive with stickers, having the person who gave the feedback to write on the card. It’s a lovely memento for each person of the workshop and the feedback. And a unique reminder of the great session you delivered!

It doesn’t get better than that!